How to Make Gold Pennies!

Learn how to turn pennies into silver pennies and into gold pennies with this science experiment from Beals Science. Craig Beals explains how to plate a penny with zinc to make a "silver penny" and then heat it to make a brass allow that looks like a "gold penny".

Connect:
Instagram: BealsScience
Twitter: BealsScience

I often hear, "Is this legal?" Yes, it is legal to plate a US penny with zinc or to turn it to copper. But, do not try to sell the "silver" or "gold" pennies to others for the value of silver or gold - that is where you could get into trouble!

This experiment was performed by a trained professional in a secure and safe environment. Any person who uses this experiment and procedure does so at their own risk.

[BealsScience]

I'd love to hear from you! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.
Got an idea for a video or experiment? Let me know!
Thanks for watching! - Craig

[broderickgk]

I found a "Gold Penny" 17 years ago as a kid in circulation. I gave it to a friend. But I always remembered that penny xD.

[stevejohnson]

Imagine finding one of these on the street...

[exoticricky]

I did this in my science class it was really fun

[paulbrickler]

We did this way back (1995-ish) in high school chemistry class, BUT, we used much more toxic chemicals. This method seems a lot safer and easier to do at home. I was able to get all of the supplies on Amazon and the only tricky thing to find was the Zinc Chloride, but I was able to order that online also.

We made a bunch of 'silver' and 'gold' pennies for my nieces and nephews today after Christmas Eve brunch; they are all age 4-10, and they REALLY loved it. It was a great activity to keep them out of the living room after present opening so the 'real' adults could clean up and let Uncle Paul play mad scientist in the kitchen.

One of them in particular wants to do more of this - she's asking about copper plating quarters and nickels and other coins, so that we can do the process in reverse to 'gold' those up too. She's one of the younger ones, too - I think she has potential in a STEM field when she gets older.

The kids found the sizzle sound when quenching the brass pennies into the distilled water a lot more satisfying than the nothing much that happened when the 'silver' pennies came out. But, they still decided to keep almost half of the pennies as silver-colored, which was cool.

Anyway thanks for the very instructive video. I like this method a lot better than the way I learned to do this in the '90's and it DEFINITELY works, and my nieces and nephews were very impressed, and seemed to have a really great time.

[jdawgvlog]

At a restaurant I got a $2 bill and 2 gold quarters as my change I will always keep it and I do now XD love the content

[ensuredchaos]

Surely I can't be the only one that came from the NileRed podcast episode, now I follow in his footsteps.

[cat-urn]

Is it ok to put the golden pennies back in the vinigar and salt would it turn them more shiny

[Haal]

What if you get a real steel penny and make it gold

[sheilakraus]

We are a home school family in Texas, and we LOVE Beals Science! I show your videos in our co-op science classes, and they are always a hit. (I taught Physical Science 2 years ago and am currently teaching Chemistry.) This lab, however, is venturing outside the science lab and is being done this week as a demonstration for my son's high school speech class. :)

His pennies turned out great, and he is absolutely nuts about Chemistry! Thanks for making great content and inspiring kids to keep learning!!

[julioacuna]

Awesome!
That is a good phenomenon to be explained into a science class. In the past years i used sodium zincate, but your method with ZnCl2 looks much better.

Regards from Bogota, Colombia.

[garrettnino]

aren't pennies just copper coated over zinc? would it be possible to use the zinc in the penny itself?

[liberty]

Is it still legal currency or will some employee yell at me for giving them "fake" currency

[chrome]

does leaving the penny in the zinc solution longer build up a thicker layer or is there a limit

[BennyCevs]

Thank you Craig for making cool videos like this that are fun to watch, done well with exceptional quality, and educational; you and all the other youtubers that make these videos. Thank you! Awesome content!

[mohandaskondoth]

Interested video. Please give me information on how to get the equipments

[insaneo]

Good one. We did a pirate day at my school and we should have done this experiment. That would have been awesome!

[Spindrift]

Since pennies minted after 1982 are actually just copper-plated zinc, why is it necessary to add zinc in the first place? Is there a way to "silverize" a penny without adding more zinc?

[basicsteps]

How about non-copper items? Can I electroplate with copper, then coat with zinc, then apply heat?

[Leo-dwfr]

Hello. What zinc chloride did you use? Awesome video!!